Kerry’s Story

Slate: West Hawk Lake, Manitoba

Kerry: I’m actually lucky. I’m freelance so I come out here most of the summer.

Slate: Kerry is an artist, a mother and an advocate of travel insurance.

Kerry: When I tell people about my trip to Europe, there’s two things they can’t believe. First of all that my mother-in-law took me on this trip and secondly of what happened on this trip. I do not like to fly, but you know when I thought about this was a chance of a lifetime—to go to Europe. I just decided to go for it.

Kerry: I never imagined in a thousand years I’d have something stolen from me because I’m very careful with my stuff. When we were in Barcelona I started feeling not great and thought I had food poisoning. The next day I saw the ship doctor, he wanted me to go in for an ultrasound. I didn’t leave the hospital from that time on.

Map: Frankfurt, Vienna, Munich, Barcelona, Monaco. Stolen: 1 digital camera, 1 video camera

Slate: Kerry was diagnosed with acute appendicitis.

Kerry: I was just in shock, total disbelief that all my luggage and my mother-in-law had to get off the ship and come to the hospital. I’ve never had surgery before so the thought of having surgery in a foreign country frightened me. It’s hard enough when you’re the person in the hospital, but my mother-in-law was also impacted by this whole experience.

Map: Monaco. Emergency surgery. 10 days in hospital.

Slate: Kerry’s mother-in-law reached out to RBC Insurance

Kerry: My mother-in-law was talking to Lisa the nurse almost everyday. We never had trouble getting through. There was always a real person on the other end of the line that would answer and talk to us. I mean it’s scary enough being away from home, but when you’re in a different country, having that connection and having someone to talk to just made you feel more secure. You didn’t have that stress of having to worry. You just felt like everything was under control. They were dealing with a hospital that only spoke French so they had someone on their end having to deal with the language barrier. And RBC Insurance made our flight home very easy—got home really quick.

Kerry: It wasn’t too much longer that my mother-in-law was reimbursed for everything and you know, we were just really surprised how fast everything came through and how easy it was dealing with RBC Insurance. You know it didn’t feel like a big corporation it felt like—kind of like your friend when you’re talking to them and that they really cared when they were speaking to you.

Kerry: You never know what life is going to throw at you. Everyday is a journey, every day is different so it’s like that with travel. If you don’t have insurance you’re just kind of taking a chance.